Why is business broadband more expensive? Many small business owners ask us when comparing a business broadband line to a residential one.There are a number of factors which can affect this, but here’s some of the main reasons to consider:
Quality not Quantity
Unlike home broadband which is designed to be as cheap as possible to the end user, a business broadband line is more about quality and reliability. After all, no business owner would want their company to lose internet access at a critical part of the day, or for it to slow down when there are more households online. So a business broadband line, first and foremost, is always about delivering good quality and higher reliability to the business customer. This does mean however, that the price of a connection is higher than for a home broadband.
Higher support levels
When things go wrong, as they invariably do, a business customer wants them resolving as soon as possible. Whilst it might be ok for a home broadband user to be without the internet for a day, a business user would potentially loose thousands of pounds in lost revenue, and their company could just grind to a halt. So the support level for a business broadband line is usually higher in order to ensure a business user has their problems fixed quickly. Support levels for business users are usually same day or next day depending on the care level you pay for, whereas a home broadband would just have a basic level of support.
Fixed IP address
Many businesses have servers and other devices they need to access from outside of their premises. Therefore in order to access these devices reliably every time, they need a fixed public IP address. Home users generally dont have servers at home that they need to access from outside, but businesses usually need to access their email, files, work from other locations etc. So they need to connect to the same IP address every single time.
Prioritised Traffic
A lot of business broadband connections offer prioritised traffic. This could mean that voice traffic, video calls, emails, etc take precedence over web browsing or playing music. By shaping the traffic on the broadband you provide a much better experience for the customer, especially if you are making telephone calls over a broadband connection using VoIP.
Do the Maths
As yourself – could your business afford to be offline for more than a day? How much business revenue would you lose if your broadband is down? Having a slightly more expensive broadband that gave you a higher quality, more reliable connection soon seems to be a good investment when considering what would happen if you had an unreliable one. So for a business user its important to have a better quality connection that doesnt go wrong, but if it does there is always someone on hand to fix the fault quickly and efficiently.
Choosing the right supplier
Here at Nxcoms, we pride ourselves on giving our business customers the best quality and most reliable broadband possible. If things go wrong we understand the implications this may have on your business so we strive to get problems rectified in a quick and efficient manner. All our clients have a named contact who can address their issues and ensure that their broadband is working at its optimum level. If you are currently finding your broadband is not reliable or not fast enough for your needs, then why not contact us for help?